Education Reform

More Red than Ed

More Red than Ed

Radical teacher’s movement picks up some steam in 2019 and national unions join in. #RedforED began as a grassroots teachers’ movement that was organized on Facebook in early 2018. Cooked up by Noah Karvelis, a 24-year-old music teacher and socialist from Arizona, its raison-d’etre is ultimately class warfare. Karvelis’ own words are ripped from The...

By Larry Sand

Taxing Californians’ patience

Taxing Californians’ patience

The new Prop. 13, very much unlike the iconic original, hurts taxpayers. There is yet another potential tax grab coming to California in the form of a school bond, which will be on the March 3rd ballot. The ironically named Prop. 13, a “School and College Facilities Bond,” would authorize $15 billion in general obligation...

By Larry Sand

The faux nonprofit prophets

The faux nonprofit prophets

The clamor over for-profit charters has no substance whatsoever. Among the many vapid rallying cries in the 2019 presidential follies is the one that stresses the importance of eliminating for-profit charter schools. In October, Elizabeth Warren released her education plan that proposed eliminating them, and using the IRS to investigate existing schools that may “actually...

By Larry Sand

Montana, SCOTUS, and your kids

Montana, SCOTUS, and your kids

Americans are losing confidence that public schools will improve, but a Supreme Court case could pave the way to greater parental choice. A recent in-depth survey by RealClearPolitics concludes that a majority of registered voters are dissatisfied with the performance of America’s education system and “have little confidence that public schools will improve any time...

By Larry Sand

Is Elitist Elizabeth’s campaign collapsing?

Is Elitist Elizabeth’s campaign collapsing?

The NEA grills POTUS candidates on the issues, and Elizabeth Warren is outed as a world-class hypocrite. In an attempt to be transparent about its endorsing process, the National Education Association is recording interviews with all the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. And Elizabeth Warren’s effort is right in line with her talk in Atlanta, in...

By Larry Sand

Democratic POTUS candidates must choose between parents and unions

Democratic POTUS candidates must choose between parents and unions

Sanders stands firm on the issues; Warren and Booker are chameleon-like; Biden is meh. As I wrote in May, several of the Democratic presidential hopefuls were tripping over each other in an effort to secure the endorsement of the teachers unions. These candidates were most pointed in criticizing any form of school choice. Bernie Sanders...

By Larry Sand

Californians exempt from the consequences of Liberalism

Californians exempt from the consequences of Liberalism

When trying to understand why Californians continue to elect liberals, several explanations routinely surface. Chief among them is the theory that conservatives forever alienated California’s diverse electorate by championing “discriminatory” policies. The early example of this was Prop. 187, passed in 1994, which banned providing government services to illegal aliens. Most of Prop. 187 was overturned in...

By Edward Ring

Bargaining for Socialism

Bargaining for Socialism

“Bargaining for the common good” is really an attempt by teacher union elites to turn America socialist. In June, 2016, unions across the country were expanding their focus to the broader community, an effort which they call “bargaining for the common good.” The new strategy originated when public employee union leaders and community organizations gathered...

By Larry Sand

The profligacy of legacy costs

The profligacy of legacy costs

Better pay and working conditions for teachers can be achieved, if only the unions would get out of the way. We live in striking times. In 2018 there were state-wide teacher work stoppages in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Arizona, et al. And this year, we have seen strikes in Denver, Los Angeles and Chicago. Not surprisingly,...

By Larry Sand

Carrying for the kids

Carrying for the kids

An analysis of school shootings by the U.S. Secret Service doesn’t really tell us anything new. A report released last week by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center on “targeted school violence” doesn’t add much to what we already knew. Nearly every attacker “experienced negative home life factors.” Most were victims of bullying...

By Larry Sand

Will UTLA endorse socialist Bernie Sanders?

Will UTLA endorse socialist Bernie Sanders?

The L.A. teachers union may officially support Bernie Sanders for president next week. Back in September, the United Teachers of Los Angeles board of directors began a process to endorse Bernie Sanders for president, and on November 14th there will be a formal vote by the union’s House of Representatives. UTLA president Alex Caputo-Pearl is...

By Larry Sand

Elizabeth Warren’s “No Teachers Union Left behind” Campaign

Elizabeth Warren’s “No Teachers Union Left behind” Campaign

Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren used to be a Republican, a Native American and pro-school choice. Now she is a Democrat, a Caucasian and anti-choice teacher union suck-up. As I wrote back in May, the Democratic presidential contenders were battling each other fiercely to score the endorsement of the nation’s teachers unions. The anointment comes with...

By Larry Sand

Parents stand up to the failing education establishment and win

Parents stand up to the failing education establishment and win

If you’re suffering a bad-news hangover, I have a cure — and it’s not a shot of tomato juice and some equally bad or worse news. It’s actual great news: In just one year, a historically failing elementary school in a tough part of Anaheim has produced an educational turnaround that would be called a...

By Will Swaim

The Great “Awokening”

The Great “Awokening”

The U.S. is in the grips of a Godless religious revival. The “Great Awakening” refers to several periods of religious rejuvenation in American Christianity. Historians and theologians have identified three or four waves of increased religiosity occurring between the 18th and 20th centuries. However, the latest version is secular, and its zealots are focusing their...

By Larry Sand